DRAFT […]
The Grounding
Author’s note: I am not a lawyer. The following does not constitute legal advice. It is a brief in support of a proposition. The Return describes an operable remedy to urban renewal. The Grounding describes an executable, doctrinal path that enables it. The chartered covenant proposed in The Return rests on constitutional building blocks that […]
The Return
“Some men see things as they are and ask why; I dream things that never were and ask why not?” — Robert Kennedy, March 18, 1968 The trilogy named the problem. We Know Who You Are Working For, Reparations: The Preferential Rental Option for the Displaced, and The Holding described, in three different registers, the […]
The Holding
Image distributed by the developer. Third in a series, after “We Know Who You Are Working For” and “Reparations: ‘The Preferential Rental Option for the Displaced’” A developer has filed an application with the City of Newburgh to build a 172-unit market-rate residential and office complex on ten acres of waterfront ground south of Washington […]
Reparations: “The Preferential Rental Option for the Displaced”*
What Kearney’s Plan Actually Offers, and What Was Actually Taken At the Newburgh city council work meeting of April 23, a representative of Kearney Realty & Development Group announced what the developer called the “first in the nation” right-to-return policy for descendants of people displaced by Newburgh’s urban renewal program.1 Twenty percent of units at […]
Read More… from Reparations: “The Preferential Rental Option for the Displaced”*
We Know Who You Are Working For
Councilman Omari Shakur, who represents the City of Newburgh at-large, addressed the Newburgh Community Land Bank from the council floor on the evening of April 22’s council work meeting. He had been listening to the Land Bank’s executive director walk the council through a slide presentation describing fourteen years of operation, and he had been […]
There but for Here
Resilience, patriotism, strong work ethic, and ability to work together. Those are said to be the characteristics of The Greatest Generation. We could use a lot more of that these days. My uncle – Reynaldo Lebron – was one of them. ***** I’m a night owl. You will find me up reading, or writing, or […]
The House I Live In
The House I Live In performed by Josh White There is a song most people know from Frank Sinatra. But Sinatra was not the first to record it. Called “The House I Live In”, it is a song about a promise — that the people who built this country, who cleaned its floors and worked […]
The History Is The Room
PART ONE: That Is Not What The Historical Record Says I have sat quietly — more or less, but mostly more (really, ask around) — in Newburgh City Council meetings for seven years. I have watched budget presentations that obscured more than they revealed. I have listened to city managers explain away FOIL non-responses with […]
What They Call Good Government
How Progressive Reform Created the Conditions for Special Interest Capture in an American City PART 5: NEWBURGH IS AMERICA The five incidents documented in Parts 3 and 4 span sixty years and involve different people, different politics, and different circumstances. A housing crisis. A welfare crackdown. A demolition campaign. A partisan installation. A waterfront sabotage. […]
